Vestibular Attack in 13 Year Old Collie cross

Attack started quite suddenly although there had been a couple of transient episodes earlier in the week with recovery in a few minutes

She was staggering as though drunk, being sick, and losing control of her bladder. Both eyes were rapidly flicking to the side. There was obvious disorientation. Sickness continued until anti-sickness injection at vets approx. 20hrs later. No on-going medication was required as the vet said she would recover naturally with time. She also had a head tilt which became progressively worse over the next day or two.

Acute phase lasted 3-4 days, during which time she was very lethargic & reluctant to get out of bed, unsteady & inclined to topple over, and had no appetite at all. She was drinking a little, although she seemed to have lost the ability or co-ordination to lap normally. The head tilt was to the left and she nearly always toppled that way. The eye flicking gradually slowed then stopped after about a week.

Recovery continued gradually (although it sometimes seemed to be '2 steps forward, 1 step back') and she had almost returned to normal by about 3 weeks after the initial onset. The head tilt remains (as I write this, 5 weeks after onset) and she seems to have aged suddenly. However she happily does 3-4 mile walks on a regular basis and will hopefully continue to do so.

This is just our personal experience, and I understand that the duration of an attack can vary from dog to dog. The positive thing is that, according to our vet, most dogs recover almost completely with time, although there may be subsequent attacks.

I have written this as reassurance for other dog owners as the experience of seeing it for the first time without any prior information was frightening in the extreme.